Sheet piling wall structure



w 1 z 1 m .TNW 5 m .WW w \N% 2 .m GN% S 4 8N%\\ AIN% m ww T w m m s S I- L E M M W G F. m, m s

8 w n s 1 2 o0 c. 2 m n d e 6.@ w n .f F

Nw QN@ Dec. 23, 1958 F. G.v NIELsEN SHEET mmc: WALL STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 23, 1953 4 @eats-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

Ind/'0f @www md... MMM. w

F. G. NIELSEN SHEET PILING WALL STRUCTURE` Dec. 23,l 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 23. 1953 IN V ESN TOR. /esem I... ...l ...fffxi 11. L'tjUf 'llllll/IIIIIIIIIIII UIIIIIIIIII|IIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIHI /l F. G. NIELSEN SHEET PILING WALL STRUCTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 23. 1953 IN V EN TOR. of/Ysen,

to the wale.

United States Patent;

Y 2.865,1;50 SHEET ritmo WALL STRUCTURE Eridtjof G. Nielsen,Y Chicago, Ill., assignorto Great Lakes Dredge &, Dock Company; Chiago, Ill., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 23,1953, SerialfNoAtllgl;

7. Claims', (C1- Gle-49)- This invention relates to walltstructures made of interlocked sections of sheet piling.` suoh as used'tfor example, to form the walls of a dock or a brealcvvater. or the like. More particularly; the inventionrelatestoimprovements in a batter beam anchored wallv` of" the aforementioned type.

Batter beam anchored;l dock wallshavebeenfin. general use.for many years. As is well understood, the. wall' itself is formed from elongated generallyJ channel-shaped sheet metal. pilings having interlocking slip joints along their side edges, so that the pilings or sheetings can be driven vertically into the` ground one-by-one, each successive sheeting being slidably joined with thev preceding sheeting so as. to. form. aV continuouswall; Heretofore, Athe anchorageforsuch. a sheet piling wall has consisted of a walein the form ofa transyerse or horizontal beam whichis rigidly connected along onev side thereofto the sheeting andi is t rigidly. secured: along; its opposite sideY to the ends of; a plurality.` oftangularly extending so-.called `batter beams. Thewale is.` located: somewhat; below, the

top of the. sheetpiling, wall, and. the, batter beams are rst driven intothe earthso as to slant downwardly Vand outwardly from theupper portion. ofthewall,` the upper ends of the batter beamsthereafter beiugrigidlysecurcd wall, the-Wale, andfthegbatter` beams have been bybolts.,

As will hereinafter appear. in greater detail, I have found that thewall anchorage just describedlhas .certainstruo tural disadvantages inthatthe soil pressureactingon the wall causes anextrabending momentwhichis cumulative with respect to the deectingforceseonsttuting ,the ,primary load onthe wall. Asia result,;the wall isf.snbjected toa greaterdegree of deection and bendingY stress than is.y accounted for, by the. primary load alone thereby reducingthe .ultimate loadxwhich thei sheeting would otherwisebe able to withstand. Furthermore, thenumerous bolt connections heretoforecommonly used in batterbeam dock wallsare n ot onlyv expensive but; also represent a substantial .limitation on the lifev expeetancy ofthe struc- .ture because of c "orrosion-diiculties.` Y

Accordingly,` a primary.,object off. the presentyinvention is to provide .ainovel and improved sheetpiling wallvstrnc- 'ture ofthebatter; beam-type which is.,no tisub'fc,t to the aforementioned disadvantages-. A. further obje'obof the,invention` is to provide an. im-

'provedY anchorage meansfora sheer-piling wall.

Mostgoften the connections between thev ,2: a novel method of installing batter beams in the anchoring of a sheet piling dock wall or the like.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become evident from the subsequent detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 4

Figfl is a diagrammaticview illustrating the disadvantagcous force relationship characteristic of the batter beam dock wall constructions heretofore used;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view similar toFig. 1 but illustrating the principles of thepresent invention;

Fig. 3 is a top plan View. of a section of a dock wall constituting one` specific embodiment of the present invention; j

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary verticalsectional viewv on an enlarged scale showing the details of the anchorage connection in the structure illustrated in Fig. 3;

. Fig. 5A is a sectional view taken along the line` 5 5 of: Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is. a sectional view. taken along the line 69-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional View taken along the line 7 7 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing a modification of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a sectional` View taken along the line 9--9` of Fig.` l0 isa sectional vieu/.taken along the. line 1er- 10 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 1l is` a transverse sectional view. takenV alongvthe line 11-11 of Fig. 8;

Eig. l-2is a View. similar to Figs..4.- andzS but showing still another modiiication ofthe invention;

Eig, lf3 isfa; View; at the earthV sidev of thestructure as sen along the line.A 13S-153 of Fig. 12; and

Fig. .14 is a; transverseV sectional View as; taken along the line, 14-.1'5if of Eig. 13; v

InV the drawings; Figs. 1- and 2 are schematic diagrams illustrating the' forces whichfact.` upon abatter beamI dock wall bothinconnectionV with thek construction heretofore used and also in; connection with my improved construction. Thus, infrFigj. l the'previously; used construction has a wale` 21 whiclris rigidly secured'to thel sheeting or piling indicatedin itsy original position in full lines, as; at 2;25. The; batter beams designated at 23 are also rigidly secured, as at 2,4; to the Wale 211:.. The bed of the stream-or body of-jwater is;represented at 25j-andthe top-off the dock; isA shownat Z7, it being understood` that the spacefatitherightfhandside-of the, pilingZZ` is filled with-earth or other'll as is` customary in a dock construction of this type.

The pressure of;v thel so il or lill on thek earth side` of the sheetingV 22 tends to causejthe sheeting to deect outwardly to arbowed condition indicated by the dotted line 218;'.` Such deilectionof thefsheeting also causesthe, Wale v 2 to tilt downwardly to the dotted line positionindicated at 29 since the wale is;` rigidly securedto-the sheeting. At the same time, theoutward pressure of the earth against the; piling causesia longitudinal pullor tension on the batter beam2-3 and there is consequently a corresponding reactionor force` exerted by thefbatter beam,- asindicated by the arrow 31. Thisreaction. inthe batter beam results in a still greater twisting tendency on thewalev2lll7 as indicated by the arrows 312. This supplementarytwisting or bending moment isl directionally parallel with the moment induced by theprimary` loadorsoil pressure and is, therefore,V cumulative with theresult that ktheipiling tends to be deilected still more until -it assumes a. position inthe'batter beamA dock walls heretoforeknown Athe fact .that the batter beams are connected to the Wale results the pressure of the earth. Q

Fig. 2 illustrates how this condition is corrected by the principles of my invention. In this case, the wale is again indicated at21 and is rigidly secured to sheeting represented in its initial undeected position at 34. The batter beams, indicated at 36, are rigidly connected directly to the sheeting 34 is spaced relation below the Wale 21. The soil pressure acting on the sheeting 34 tends to deflect the latter outwardly to the bowed position indicated by the outermost dotted line 37. However, as will hereinafter appear in greater detail, the batter beams 36 are preferably connected only to alternate or selected sections of the piling 34 so that the soil pressure acting on the unanchored piling sections tends to deflect the upper portions thereof outwardly as indicated by the arrow. 38. The anchored and unanchored piling sections being interlocked along their edges and the wale 21 being rigidly secured to all of the piling sections along the wale side of the wall, it follows that the outward force 38 is transmitted to the anchored piling sections and the result is a counter-moment acting primarily on the anchored piling sections but also, through the interlocks, on all of the sections comprising the sheeting 34 which tends to deflect the lower part of the sheeting inwardly and oppositely to the pressure of the earth against the sheeting. As a result, the ultimate dellection of the sheeting is minimized as indicated by the intermediate dot-and-dash line 39. Thus, by reason of the present construction, the ultimate bending stress and deflection in the sheeting is substantially less than would otherwise be caused by the soil pressure.

In Fig. 3 the general arrangement of the sheeting, Wale, and batter beams is shown in accordance with one specic embodiment of the invention. The sheeting comprises a plurality of interconnected sheet piling sections designated generally at 41 and 42. These sheet piling scctions are of a generally channel-shaped type well known in the art, each having a central web portion 41a or 42a and a pair of angularly extending side portions 41b and 4217. The edges of the respective sheet pilings are joined together by interlocking slip joints 43 in a manner well known in this art, the sections being driven vertically into the earth one by one and with each successive section being slidably interlocked with the preceding section. Moreover, adjacent piling sections are reversely disposed as clearly seen in Fig. 3, so as to form a continuous wall with the web portions 41a being disposed in a vertical plane at one side of the wall and the web portions 42a of the opposed piling sections being arranged in a parallel spaced vertical plane at the op` posite side of the wall. A wale 44 in the `form of an elongated I-beam or other suitable section extends horizontally along the wall belowV the top thereof and is rigidly secured to each of the web portions 42a at the earth side of the Wall. yA plurality of batter beams also in the form of I-beams, as at 46, are secured to alternate piling sections at the earth side of the wall, i. e. in this case to every fourth piling section in the wall. As described in more detail below, the batter beams 46 slant downwardly and outwardly from the sheeting into the earth and are rigidly connected at their upper ends to the selected piling sections in spaced relation below the Wale 44. v

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 7, the details of the batter beam connections will now be described. As mentioned, the wale 44 is in the form of an I-beam having a horizontal web portion 47 and upright flange portions 48 and 49. The flange portion 48 is welded, as at 51,

'along its upper andlower edges to the web portions 42a of the sheet pilingsections. To strengthen the attachment of the Wale 44, the web portions 42a are provided with holes 52 to permit welding around the edges there- CFI of, as ;at 53, to the Wale ange 48. The web portion 47 of the yWale has a plurality of spaced holes or openings 54 for drainage and also for preventing voids in the till or earth during filling in of the space at the earth side of the dock wall. In addition, the Wale 44 also has a plurality of spaced transverse partitions or braces 56 which extend between the flange portions 48 and 49 for strengthening purposes.

For installing the batter beams 46 after the upright piling has been driven into position, each of the web portions 42a of the selected piling sections has cut out of it a rectangular window or opening 57 which is of sufficient size to receive the corresponding batter beam 46, the latter also being in the form of an I-beam. The batter beam 46 is then inserted angularly through the opening 57, as indicated in broken lines at 58, and is driven downwardly therethrough into the soil at the earth side of the wall. After the batter beam 46 has been driven into position in the ground, its upper end is cut olf by a cutting torch or the like so that the batter beam terminates on the inside of the sheeting, as indicated at 59. The plate which 'was previously cut out of the web portion 42a to provide the window 57 is then replaced in the opening and welded around its entire periphery, the plate being indicated at 61 and the peripheral Welding at 62. Thus, the window or opening 57 is now completely closed. Obviously, the closure plate 61 may comprise either the portion of metal originally cut out of the web 42a or it may comprise a separate and independent plate member.

Next, the free upper end of the slanting batter beam 46 is rigidly connected to the adjacent piling section by means of a pair of connecting plates 63 which in this case have the general shape of a parallelogram. As best seen in Fig. 7, these connecting parallelogram plates 63 are rigidly secured to the sheeting by being welded, as at 64, along their front vertical edges to the angular side portions 42b of the piling section and at opposite ends of the web portion 42a. The connecting plates 63 extend outwardly in generally parallel relation with the respective channel sides 42b and converge at their opposite vertical edges against the upright central web por-v tion, indicated at 66, of the I-beam constituting the batter beam 46. These rear or outer edges of the connecting plates 63 are welded, as at 67, to the batter beam web 66 thereby providing a rigid welded interconnection between the batter beam and the piling section but Without any direct connection with the Wale 44. For strengthening the connection of the batter beam to the piling, a small top plate or strip 68 is disposed atwise against the upper flange portion, indicated at 69, of the batter beam 46 and is welded thereto, as at 71 (Fig. 4). The plate 68 is also welded along its opposite edge, as at 72, to the web portion Y420i of the piling section. Although not always necessary, an upright brace 73 may extend between the Wale 44 and the batter beam 46 for the purpose of imparting lateral rigidity to the structure, but it will be apparent that the brace 73 cannot result in imposing any detrimental reaction from the batter beam 46 to the Wale 44 but may to some extent resist the tendency of the Wale 44 to twist. y

In Figs. 8 to 11 .a modied construction is shown which is particularly applicable in the case of other types of channel-shaped piling sections, particularly those having a relatively wider central web portion as compared with the channel sections in Figs. 3 to 7. In this instance, the wale is in the form of a box beam 81 of generally rectangular cross section which is welded, as at 82, to the earth side of the channel web portions 42a. As in the previously described form of the invention, the batter vbeam is installed by first cutting a window or slot 83 in the web portion 42a and thereafter the batter beam, which is in this instance also an I-beam 84, is driven angularly through the window 83 into the ground. After the batter beam 84 has been driven into position, its upper end is cut topartially removethe -upperandlowerange portions, indicatedy at. 86 and; 857: respectively, off the I-beam. However, the remainingweb portion, indicated at 83, of the I-beam Vis. permitted. to project outwardly through the window 83, as shown at89. A rectangular plate 91 larger than the window 83,-is then provided with a narrow vertical slot 92 of suiiicient width to accommodate the projecting end S9 of the. batterv beam. 84. This slotted plate 91 is then. seated atwise against the central webY portion 42a of the ypiling section and is Welded around itsl entireY periphery, as at 93, to theweb The plate 91 is` also Welded' completely around-the 42o. slot 92 to the projecting endportion 89 ofthe batter beam web, as shown at-94. In this manner, the upper end of the batter beam- Se is-rigidly Welded to the web portion 42a of the` corresponding'pilingA section. For further strengthening this-welded connection a shortbar 96 may also be welded, as at 97 and-98,I to the plate 91 and to the upper llange 86 of thefbatter-beam 84.` For imparting additional lateral rigidity, to` `the Wall construction, I may also interpose a rigid brace V99`beitween the Wale 81 and the-batter beam 84, but' again this is merely optional and cannot result. in interposing detrimental twisting reaction on the Wale 81 and may to some extent resist such tWistin-gaction.

In Figs. 12 to 14, IA ha-veillustrated still another embodimentof the inventionwhich is useful in connection With another type of sheetpilingV having a generally Z-shapedcross-section. In this instance, each batter beam is an elongatedI-beam 101andthe waleisalso-in the form of an I-beam 102. The batter beams 101 are driven angularly into the ground and when they are in place their upper ends are cut off, as by burning, in a vertical plane. The Z-shaped sheet piling sections, designated at 103 are then driven into the ground in substantially upright position With the usual sliding connections therebetween, as at 104. After the sheet piling is in place, the Wale 102 is secured horizontally across the piling structure by welding, as at 106. Finally, the upper ends of the batter beams 101 are welded, as at 107, to the piling sections below the wale 102 as clearly seen in Fig. l2. -A vertical brace 108 may also be provided between each of the batter beams 101 and the Wale 102. in much the same manner as hereinbefore described in connection with the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 4 to 7. As will be evident from the drawing, the batterbeams 101 and the wale 102 are Welded to the web portions of the sheet piling wall structure at the earth side of the wall, these web portions being formed by the connected end portions 109 of adjacent piling sections.

As will be understood from the foregoing description, in each of the illustrated embodiments of the invention, the batter beams have rigid connections at the upper ends to selected sheet ipiling sections of the dock Wall and these rigid connections are in all cases disposed in spaced relation below the horizontal Wale. In other Words, there are no rigid reaction-transmitting connections between the batter beams and the Wale `with the result that there is no tendency for the reaction forces inthe batter beams to impose a cumulative twisting or bending moment `on and through the Wale which would result in added deection of the sheeting inthe manner illustrated in Fig. l. On the contrary, the construction of the present invention permits exertion of a counter-moment by soil pressure acting on the upper ends of the sheet piling sections Which is transmitted through the piling connections and through the horizontal Wale to all of the piling sections and `which partially counteracts the primary deecting pressure of the earth. In addition, the .constructions herein villustrated and described lend themselves readily to the of alignment is required, but alsohas a greater lifeexpectancy becapseV o f the elimination of corrosion difficulties encountered when 4a multiplicity of bolts are used.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to certain specific structural embodimentsthereof, it will be understood that various modifications and equivalent arrangements may be resorted to Without departing fro-m the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A wall structureof the class described comprising sheet piling, a Wale rigidly secured across said piling at one side of the wall structure, and a plurality of batter beams slanting Vdownwardly from said piling at said one side of the wall structure for anchoring the same, said batter beams having rigid sheet deflection-resisting connections below said Wale only with said piling whereby to avoid excessive..twistingofI said Wale and consequentincreased deection of saidpiling under soil pressure.

2. A wall structure. of the class. described comprising a.plurality of upright. generally channel-shaped sheet piling members interlocked at their. vertical edges to deiine a` continuous wall of generally channel-shaped sections with adjacent sectionsV reversely disposed and having the Web. portions of alternate sections located in spaced vertical planes atopposite si'des. of'the wall, a Wale extending across said wall at `one side thereof and rigidly securedl to eachA of the piling sections at saidfone side of the Wall, and a plurality of batter beams slanting downwardly and. outwardly from-said one side of the wall and having rigid sheet deiiection-resisting connections at their upper ends solely with selected piling sections at said one side of the Wall, the rigid connections of said batter beams with said selected piling sections being located below said Wale.

3. The structure of claim 2 further characterized in that said batter beams are rigidly connected only to alternate ones of the piling sections at said one side of the wall.

4. A wall structure of the class described comprising a plurality of upright generally channel-shaped sheet piling sections with adjacent sections reverseiy disposed and interlocked at their vertical edges to dene a continuous wall having the web portions of alternate piling sections located in spaced vertical planes at opposite sides of the wall, a wale extending across said Wall at one side thereof and rigidly secured to each of the web portions at said one side of the wall, and a plurality of batter beams slanting downwardly and outwardly from said one side of the wall and having rigid sheet deflection-resisting connections at their upper ends solely with selected piling sections at said one side of the Wall, the rigid connections of said batter beams with said selected piling sections being adjacent the web portions thereof and being located below said Wale.

S. A wall structure of the class described comprising a plurality of upright sheet piling sections interlocked at their vertical edges to define a continuous Wall, each of said piling sections being generally channel-shaped with a central web portion and a pair of opposite side portions extending outwardly at an angle from said web portion, the adjacent piling sections of the wall being reversely disposed so that the web portions of alternate piling sections are located in spaced vertical planes at opposite sides of the Wall, a Wale extending across said Wall at one side thereof and rigidly secured to the web portions at said one side of the wall, a plurality of batter j 7 Wale, said plates extending angularly in converging relation to the upper end portion of the corresponding batter beam and being welded thereto.

6. A wall structure of the class described comprising a plurality of upright sheet piling sections interlocked at their vertical edges to denne a continuous Wall, each of said piling sections being generally channel-shaped with a central web portion and a pair of opposite side portions extending outwardly at an angle from said web portion, the adjacent piling sections of the wall being reversely disposed so that the web portions of alternate piling sections are located in spaced vertical planes at opposite sides of the Wall, a Wale extending across said wall at one side thereof and rigidly secured to the web portions at said one side of the wall, a plurality of batter beams slanting downwardly and outwardly in spaced relation along said one side of the wall for anchoring the same, and a pair of connecting plates welded to selected ones of said piling sections at said one side of the wall and below said Wale, said plates being welded at their inner ends to the angular .side portions of each of said selected piling sections and extending outwardly in respective parallel relationwith said side portions, and said plates also converging at their opposite ends beyond said one side of the Wall at the correspondnig batter beam and the converging ends of said pair of plates being welded to the batter beam.

7. A wall structure of the class described comprising a plurality of upright sheet piling sections interlocked at their vertical edges to define a continuous wall, each of said piling sections being generally channel-shaped with Y va'central web portion and a pair of opposite side portions extending outwardly at an angle from said web portion,A the .adjacent piling sections of the Wall being reversely disposed so that the web portions of alternate piling sections are located in spaced Vertical planes at opposite vsides of the wall, a Wale extending across said Wall at one side thereof and rigidly secured to the web portions at said one side of the wall, a plurality of batter beams slanting downwardly and outwardly in spaced relation along said one side of the wall for anchoring the same, said batter beams each comprising an I-beam having an upright web portion and upper and lower flange portions, and a pair of connecting plates extending angularly from selected ones of said piling sections at said one side of the wall and below said Wale, said plates being welded at their inner ends to the angular side portions of each of said selected piling sections and extending in between the ange portions of the corresponding batter beam, the opposite ends of said plates converging against opposite sides of the upright web portion of the batter beam and being welded thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,270,659 Ravier June 25, 1918 1,942,163 Di Zoppola Jan. 2, 1934 2,018,423 Smith Oct. 22, 1935 2,045,112 Upson June 23, 1936 2,146,333 Deming Feb. 7, 1939 2,388,624 Tashjian Nov. 6, 1945 

